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Tiger Woods has revealed that he has undergone an operation to repair “minor cartilage damage” in his left knee.

The Masters champion underwent an arthroscopic procedure last week, which was carried out by Dr Vern Cooley, one of the surgeons who helped repair Woods’ anterior cruciate ligament in 2008. 

In a statement, Dr Cooley said that he expects the 15-time major winner to “make a full recovery”.

“We did what was needed and also examined the entire knee,” he disclosed. “There were no additional problems.”

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Woods added: “I would like to thank Dr Cooley and his team. I’m walking now and hope to resume practice in the next few weeks.”

The 43-year-old expects to return to action at the Zozo Championship in Japan in October.

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Woods has had issues with his left knee stretching all the way back to his amateur days.

In 1994, he surgery to remove benign tumours and scar tissue. That was followed eight years later, in December 2002, by a procedure to remove cysts before he ruptured the ACL in his left knee in 2008. 

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That injury required him to have arthroscopic surgery following the 2008 Masters. After winning the US Open in June that year, he underwent a full repair of his damaged cruciate ligament. 

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Most recently, he suffered a medial cruciate ligament sprain to the knee in 2011.

Tiger Woods Injured

This latest injury compounds what has been a frustrating year for Woods on the health front. 

A neck strain forced him to skip the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March before suffering from back pain during the summer. Earlier this month, he was forced to withdraw from The Northern Trust ahead of his second round due to an oblique strain.

He recovered from that in time to play in the BMW Championship at Medinah the following week but couldn’t force his way back into the top 30 on the FedEx Cup standings, meaning his PGA Tour season ended prematurely.


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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